A European sex-based rights group has criticised the European Union executive’s issuing of a recommendation for member states to adopt national-level bans on conversion practices.
It was announced on Wednesday that the EU executive would issue a recommendation next year for member states, however it would not be binding.
The Athena Forum has said that extending conversion therapy bans to gender identity and gender expression “causes lasting harm under the guise of human rights protection.”
European Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen said this week that such conversion practises “have no place in our union” as the LGBTQ+ flag flew outside its headquarters in Brussels. In a statement.
“This is a shameful practice, this is an unacceptable practice. This is not care, this is covert violence. No one should have to experience this,” EU commissioner Hadja Lahbib, head of equality, said.
In response to a petition from last May, with over one million signatures which called on the 27-country bloc to ban such methods, the Commission announced it will adopt a Commission Recommendation, to be adopted in 2027, committing to “support countries in their efforts to ban these harmful practices.”
Brussels has argued that it does not have the legal authority to ban the practices, and that doing so would be an infringement on member states’ powers.
Reacting, Faika El-Nagashi, director of the Athena Forum told Gript that the organisation is “relieved” that the Commission stopped short of pursuing an EU-wide ban, and that it will not seek to add conversion practices to the list of EU crimes under Article 83(1) TFEU.
“However,” said El-Nagashi, “It plans to issue a non-binding recommendation next year urging states to introduce bans on so-called conversion practices, while continuing to mobilise its enormous resources and soft-power machinery to pressure governments into adopting such legislation.
“Gender identity has thoroughly captured the EU, with loyalty and belonging eagerly performed from the top down. The range of actions announced today is aimed at consolidating far-reaching regimes in some Member States, such as Spain, nudging reluctant ones like the Netherlands and Austria off the fence, and laying the groundwork for the next political turn in resistant states such as Latvia, and EU candidate countries.
She continued: “Broad opposition to these bans is not limited to religious and conservative groups. Across Europe, feminists, lesbian and gay rights organisations, parent groups, and a growing number of clinicians and therapists are raising concerns about the risks involved. Yet these voices are systematically excluded from the EU’s internal discussions.
“Bans on so-called “conversion practices” are deceptively framed. They invoke the brutal abuse once inflicted on lesbians and gay men, while applying that historical imagery to something fundamentally different. Framed around gender identity and expression, these bans risk harming the very people they claim to protect – particularly gender non-conforming children who may simply grow up to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
“Such bans entrench the unscientific belief that some children are “born in the wrong body” and should be placed on a path toward irreversible medicalisation. In practice, they make affirmation of a child’s self-declared gender identity a legal requirement not only for therapists, but for teachers, doctors, and even families.
“Making affirmation the only permissible approach to a child’s self declared gender identity is not protection. Those struggling with their sex require open, exploratory and therapeutic support; their families deserve evidence-based care; and society needs honesty and clarity.”
In a briefing on the “dangers and distortions” of conversion therapy bans on gender identity and expression, the Athena Forum said: “Individuals struggling with their sex require open, exploratory and therapeutic support; their families deserve evidence-based care; and society needs honesty and clarity. Extending conversion therapy bans to gender identity and gender expression is doing lasting harm under the guise of human rights protection.”